Performance Monitoring and Flexible Goal-Directed Action in Humans: Neuroanatomical, Physiological and Molecular Foundations
The independent junior research group 'Cognitive Neurology' investigates how cognitive functions of the human brain facilitate flexible goal-directed behavior.
(Def. cognition).
Our research is particularly focused on the monitoring of action and action outcomes, error detection and behavioral adjustments as a consequence of performance/goal discrepancies.
In order to answer the question of how performance monitoring and subsequent behavioral adjustments are implemented in the human brain, we employ a broad spectrum of research methods both in healthy subjects as well as neurological, neurosurgical and psychiatric patients. This investigative strategy enables us to span the array from molecular mechanisms to systemic factors subserving action outcome optimization. The Cognitive Neurology team uses
- functional and structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
- Electroencephalography (EEG), especially event-related potentials (ERP)
- genetic investigations
- psychopharmacological studies
- neural network modeling
Our goal:
development of a neurobiologically plausible performance monitoring and action outcome optimization model of the human brain
- Goal setting and integrated methods of the junior research group 'Cognitive Neurology"'
Meanwhile Prof. Markus Ullsperger works at the University of Magdeburg.
Contact details
Prof. Dr. Markus Ullsperger
Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg
Institut für Psychologie II, Abt. Neuropsychologie
Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany
phone: +49 (0)391 / 67 18475
fax: +49 (0)391 / 67 11401
Research topics in detail:
Performance Monitoring and Flexible Action
Further Information:
EEG, fMRI: Methods
Errors, Conflicts, and the Brain: Conference Proceedings (2004)
Kognitive Höchstleistungen im Alltag: Short movie
"Error Detection in the Gray Matter":
New Results:
Genetically Determined Differences in Learning from Errors
The complete data are published in Science magazine.
See also: New Press Releases